Saturday Night Fever

What’s a dance movie without a killer sound track? A pretty lame one. That’s why John Travolta’s role as disco stallion Tony Manero had to be accompanied by songs that would make even the shiest wallflower want to throw on some bell-bottoms and clacky-heeled shoes for a night of rump-shaking. Saturday Night Fever wasn’t all wide collars and satin leisure suits; while the fashions look pretty comical, the film is a weighty melodrama about a bunch of dead-end Brooklyn yoots who dance to take their minds off their dead-end jobs, dysfunctional families and pregnant girlfriends. The soundtrack, however, is irrepressible. Heavy on tunes from disco kings the Bee Gees, including “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever” and “How Deep Is Your Love,” it also features “If I Can’t Have You” by Yvonne Elliman and “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps. The album topped the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks and was still charting in March 1980, well after disco finally died.